2. Read the text. What happened in 1973, 1986, 1992 and 1997?

(Đọc đoạn văn. Chuyện gì đã xảy ra vào năm 1973, 1986, 1992 và 1997?)

A brief history of mobile phones

» Nearly a billion mobile phones are sold every year worldwide.

» The first mobile phone call was made in 1973 by Martin Cooper. He was an inventor for a leading mobile phone company. The call was answered by the boss of a rival company, who was not happy to hear that he had lost the race.

» The first mobiles were powered by batteries that weighed nearly a kilo.

»Voicemail was added to phones in 1986. Internet access was not added for another ten years.

» The first text message was sent in December 1992. it was not typed on the phone itself but on a computer.

» The camera phone was invented in 1997 by Philippe Kahn. Photos of his newborn daughter were shared via his phone with 2,000 friends and family.

» In the UK, a mobile phone is stolen every three minutes.

»What are mobile phones used for the most? It isn't texting or calling — it's checking the time!

Tạm dịch: 

>> Gần một tỷ chiếc điện thoại di động được bán ra mỗi năm trên toàn thế giới.

>> Cuộc gọi điện thoại di động đầu tiên được thực hiện vào năm 1973 bởi Martin Cooper. Ông ấy là một nhà phát minh của một công ty dẫn đầu về điện thoại di động. Cuộc gọi đã được nhận bởi ông chủ của một công ty đối thủ người mà đã không hề vui khi biết tin rằng ông ta đã thua trongcuộc đua.

>> Những chiếc điện thoại di động đầu tiên chạy bằng pin nặng gần một ký.

>> Thư thoại đã được thêm vào điện thoại vào năm 1986. Truy cập Internet khả dụng trong vòng 10 năm sau đó.

>> Tin nhắn văn bản đầu tiên được gửi đi vào tháng 12 năm 1992. Nó không phải được gõ trên điện thoại mà là trên một chiếc máy tính.

>> Điện thoại có máy ảnh được phát minh vào năm 1997 bởi Philippe Kahn. Hình ảnh cô con gái mới sinh của ông được chia sẻ qua điện thoại với 2.000 bạn bè và gia đình của ông.

>> Tại Vương quốc Anh, cứ ba phút thì có một chiếc điện thoại di động bị mất cắp.

>> Điện thoại di động được sử dụng để làm gì? Không phải để nhắn tin hay gọi điện - nó dùng để xem thời gian đấy!

2. Read the text and check your ideas from exercise 1.

(Đọc đoạn văn và kiểm tra đáp án của bạn ở bài tập 1.)

The camera revolution

Over the past 20 years, (1) the way in which we take, keep and share photos has been transformed. Most people use smartphones and digital cameras to take photos, and billions of photos have been uploaded to social networking sites. So (2) have traditional celluloid film cameras been replaced by these gadgets? Not yet, but it won't be long.

However, things are going to change again. Wearable gadgets that have recently been developed allow you to take a photo simply by blinking. (3) Messages can also be sent and information can be accessed with these wearable gadgets. (4) The technology hasn't been perfected, so (5) these devices won't be sold in shops for a while.

(6) Will cameras and mobiles be replaced by wearable gadgets? (7) They can't be replaced yet but (8) they may be taken over sooner than we think. What's certain is that (9) our lives will be changed by these devices in ways we haven't even thought of.

2. Read the text. Do you think it is a good idea to colonise the moon and / or Mars? Give reasons for your answer.

(Đọc văn bản. Bạn có nghĩ rằng đó là một ý tưởng tốt để định cư trên mặt trăng và / hoặc sao Hỏa? Đưa ra lý do cho câu trả lời của bạn.)

MARS ONE

NASA is planning to send people back to the moon and Mars. This will be the Artemis program. Theidea of living on the moon clearly appeals to a lot of people. Teams of sclentists from several countries, including India, China and Israel, are working hard to take part in the race. Films like Ad Astra, starring Brad Pitt, show us people on scheduled flights to the moon showing their ID on arrival almost as if they were arriving at an airport on Earth. Indeed, many people believe that people will set up home on the moon soon. So, if that is true, how will the settlers adjust to the conditions on the moon? How will they deal with problems like lack of oxygen, zero gravity and extreme temperatures? Robotic rovers have already searched for water on the moon, but have found none in liquid form. However, they have discovered some ice below the surface.

NASA's plan is to work with private companies to establish a base on the moon around 2028. Then, part of their job will be to prepare for the future exploration of Mars. Will some of us have the opportunity to travel into space and maybe even settle on Mars? Nobody knows for sure. But if we believe what we see in films like Passengers and Ad Astra, future generations may enjoy a very different life!

2. Read the texts. Check your answers in exercise 1. Were any of your guesses correct?

(Đọc đoạn văn. Kiểm tra câu trả lời của bạn ở bài tập 1. Có dự đoán nào của bạn đúng không?)

Inventions the world forgot

1. Telhartnonium

The Telharmonium was the world's first electronic musical instrument. It was designed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897. Music from the instrument was broadcast to people’s homes using a telephone. Before the invention of the radio, people loved these first home concerts. After Cahill's death in 1934, his brother kept one of the three models, but in 1962 it was destroyed. No recordings of the music were kept, so the Telharmonium and its unique sound have disappeared forever.

2. The Writing Ball

Invented in 1865 by Rasmus Malling- Hansen from Denmark, the Writing Ball was a machine for typing onto paper. Its use of electricity made the movement faster. However, you could not see the paper as you were typing. Nevertheless, the Writing Ball was very successful. Since each model was made by hand, it was soon replaced by other cheaper machines produced in factories. A new keyboard with a different key arrangement appeared. The once-popular Writing Ball was forgotten.

3. The Antikythera Mechanism

In 1901, parts of an ancient machine were discovered on a ship near the Greek island of Antikythera. It had been made about 1,900 years earlier, in 2 BCE. For many years after its discovery, nobody understood exactly what the machine was for. In the 1970s, scientists found that this ancient computer had been designed to predict the movements of the sun, the moon and the planets. It did this using more than thirty hand-made metal wheels of different sizes. The remains of the Antikythera mechanism are now kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, together with a number of reconstructions to demonstrate how it may have worked.

6. Decide if the sentences below are true (T), false (F) or ‘does not say' (DNS).

(Quyết định xem các câu dưới đây là đúng (T), sai (F) hay không được nói đến (DNS).)

1. The Telharmonium was invented before the radio.

2. Thaddeus Cahill destroyed the final model of his invention before he died.

3. The Writing Ball was the first machine that used electricity for typing.

4. Other typing machines were cheaper to make because they were not made by hand.

5. The Antikythera Mechanism was at the bottom of the sea for nearly 2,000 years.

6. For about 70 years after it was found, the purpose of the mechanism was not known.

2. Read the task and the letter. What problem (s) does the writer have? What does she want the recipient to do?

(Đọc bài tập và bức thư. Người viết có (những) vấn đề gì? Cô ấy muốn người nhận làm gì?)

As a result of the pandemic Covid-19, all your classes are now online. You have been having problems with the internet connection in your area. Write a letter of complaint to the internet provider.

(Do hậu quả của đại dịch Covid-19, tất cả các lớp học của bạn giờ chuyển qua trực tuyến. Bạn đang gặp sự cố với kết nối Internet trong khu vực của bạn. Viết một lá thư khiếu nại đến nhà cung cấp dịch vụ Internet.)

Dear Sir or Madam,

1. I am writing to report the slow and unstable internet connection in my area. Since I am now taking online classes, I access the internet for my lessons and materials, so high speed internet connectivity is very important to me. 

2. My main problem is that the signal is not strong enough during the day. As most of my online classes are in the morning, I am frequently disconnected from the lectures. Without stable internet connectivity, it is more and more difficult for me to follow the class. 

3. I realise that it is expensive to support all students in the city who are doing online classes as a result of the pandemic. However, students should be able to attend their classes without any interruption rather than spending all the time adjusting their devices. 

4. In conclusion, I find this is an irritating problem. Unless there is a significant improvement to the internet reliability and speed in the area, the students in our city will not be able to attend online classes. 

Yours faithfully, 

Lam Anh 

Nguyen Lam Anh 

2. Read the text. Find out the answers to the questions in exercise 1.

(Đọc đoạn văn. Tìm câu trả lời cho các câu hỏi trong bài tập 1.)

VIRTUAL MUSEUMS 

Virtual museums went back to the 1950s, when early experiments of virtual reality were carried out, one typical example being the "Sensorama" machines developed by an American inventor. In 1992, the Apple Computer Inc. released The Virtual Computer, a CD-ROM which displays some 3D-modelled scientific exhibits in an environment similar to a museum. The Virtual Computer has been considered the first digital virtual museum covering themes such as medicine, plant growth and space. Another well-known example was the "Guggenheim Virtual Museum" by Asymptote Architecture in I 999.When the Internet gained popularity and became more widespread in the 1990s. online virtual museums came into existence, including the Museum of Computer Art (USA) founded in 1993 and the WebMuseum, initially named WebLouvre, which was launched in 1994. 

Most physical museums now offer virtual tours. These virtual museums provided endless education and entertainment opportunities to people around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

3. Put the events in the order they happened, according to the text.

(Sắp xếp các sự kiện sau theo thời điểm xảy ra dựa vào đoạn văn.)

a. The internet grew in popularity.

(Internet ngày càng phổ biến.)

b. Early experiments of virtual reality were conducted.

(Các thí nghiệm ban đầu về thực tế ảo đã được tiến hành.)

c. WebLouvre was launched. (ebLouvre được mở.)

d. WebLouvre was renamed WebMuseum.

(WebLouvre được đổi tên thành WebMuseum.)

e. The Virtual Computer by the Apple Computer Inc. came out.

(Máy tính ảo của Apple Computer Inc. ra mắt.)

f. Online virtual museums emerged.

(Các viện bảo tàng ảo xuất hiện.)

1. Reading:  Read the text. Circle the correct option (a-d).

(Đọc đoạn văn. Khoanh vào đáp án đúng a-d)

TV opportunity!

Great Inventions is a new TV show and we are looking for young people to take part.

Interested? We invite you to make a two-minute video that shows your idea for a new invention.

Make sure you include:

- personal details: name, age, and address.

- the name of your invention, how you got the idea and how it works.

You can email us your video or send it to the address shown on our website. We'll choose the ones we think are most interesting. Your prize? The chance to appear on our TV show!

Tạm dịch:

Cơ hội lên TV!

“Great Inventions” là một chương trình truyền hình mới và chúng tôi đang tìm kiếm những người trẻ tuổi tham gia. Bạn có hứng thú không? Chúng tôi mời bạn tạo một video dài hai phút thể hiện ý tưởng của bạn về một phát minh mới.

Đảm bảo bạn bao gồm:

• thông tin cá nhân: tên, tuổi và địa chỉ.

• tên phát minh của bạn, bạn có ý tưởng đó như thế nào và cách nó hoạt động.

Bạn có thể gửi video của bạn qua email cho chúng tôi hoặc gửi đến địa chỉ được hiển thị trên trang web của chúng tôi. Chúng tôi sẽ chọn ra những cái mà chúng tôi nghĩ là thú vị nhất. Giải thưởng của bạn là gì ư? Đó là cơ hội xuất hiện trên chương trình truyền hình của chúng tôi!

1. What do the programme makers want?

(Những người làm chương trình muốn gì?)

a. new inventors (nhà sáng chế mới)

b. experienced film makers

(một người làm phim có kinh nghiệm)

c. young TV presenters (người dẫn chương trình trẻ tuổi)

d. young actors (diễn viên trẻ)

20th-century inventions

The most important modern invention has to be the mobile phone. It was only invented in the 1970s, but look at it now! Everyone has a phone. Originally, of course, phones were large and were only used to make phone calls. Now those phones are in museums! Modern mobile phones are mini-computers - you can do so much with them. You can buy very expensive phones, but you can also buy cheap models. That's why, in my view, it's the best 20th-century invention.

Tạm dịch:

Phát minh của thế kỷ 20

Phát minh hiện đại quan trọng nhất phải là điện thoại di động. Nó chỉ được phát minh vào những năm 1970, nhưng hãy nhìn vào nó ngay bây giờ! Mọi người đều có điện thoại. Tất nhiên, ban đầu, điện thoại có kích thước lớn và chỉ được sử dụng để gọi điện. Bây giờ thì những chiếc điện thoại đó đang ở trong viện bảo tàng! Điện thoại di động hiện đại chính là chiếc máy tính mini - bạn có thể làm được rất nhiều điều với chúng. Bạn có thể mua những chiếc điện thoại rất đắt tiền, nhưng bạn cũng có thể mua những chiếc máy giá rẻ. Đó là lý do tại sao, theo quan điểm của tôi, đó là phát minh tuyệt nhất của thế kỷ 20.

2. What is the purposes of the text?

(Mục đích của đoạn văn là gì?)

a. to advertise mobile phones

(quảng cáo điện thoại di động)

b. to invite people to a museum exhibition

(mời mọi người đến triển lãm bảo tàng)

c. to give an opinion about an invention

(nêu quan điểm về một phát minh)

d. to advise people to avoid cheap phones

(khuyên mọi người không nên dùng điện thoại rẻ tiền)

3D printers

3D printers are a new kind of machine that can make everyday objects. They're amazing because they can produce different things in different materials, from cups and plates to plastic toys and even chocolate cakes! So how do they work?

First you design a 3D object on your computer, then you connect it to a 3D printer. Press "print" and watch it work. The printer makes the object in very thin layers, like the pages of a book - one on top of the other until you have a complete object.

Tạm dịch:

Máy in 3D

Máy in 3D là một loại máy mới có thể tạo ra các vật thể hàng ngày. Chúng thật tuyệt vì chúng có thể tạo ra những thứ khác nhau bằng các vật liệu khác nhau, từ cốc và đĩa đến đồ chơi bằng nhựa và thậm chí cả bánh sô cô la! Vậy chúng hoạt động như thế nào? Đầu tiên, bạn thiết kế một vật thể 3D trên máy tính của mình, sau đó bạn kết nối nó với một máy in 3D. Nhấn 'in' và xem nó hoạt động. Máy in tạo ra vật đó với các lớp rất mỏng, giống như các trang sách chồng lên nhau cho đến khi bạn có một vật hoàn chỉnh.

3. What is the writer of the text doing?

(Người viết đang làm gì?)

a. giving an idea about the future of printers

(đưa ra ý tưởng về tương lai của máy in)

b. describing an invention (miêu tả một phát minh)

c. giving a short history of an object

(tóm tắt lịch sử của một thiết bị)

d. explaining different inventions

(giải thích các phát minh khác nhau)

2. Read the texts and match two of the inventions with the photos (A-B).

(Đọc văn bản và ghép hai phát minh với ảnh (A-B).)

1   Hippo-Roller, photo ____.

Many women and children in Africa spend between three and nine hours a day carrying water to their homes. They use 20-litre plastic buckets, which they carry on their heads. The buckets are very heave and often cause back and neck injuries. So engineers Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker designed a ‘rolling wheel’ which can carry ninety litres of water and is much easier to move. 33,000 ‘Hippo-Rollers’ have been made and delivered to remote villages in Africa. The results are good: women have more time to look after their families, the children have more time at school, and there are fewer injuries.

2   LifeStraw, photo ____.

There are 780 million people in the world who don’t have clean safe drinking water. This fact led the Swiss company Vestergaard to invent a special kind of straw that allows people to drink dirty water without getting ill. The LifeStraw is a long thin tube that cleans the water as it passes through into somebody’s mouth. LifeStraw is very light and can clean up to 1,000 litres of water before you need to replace it. LifeStraw was used to help people after the Haiti earthquake, and floods in Pakistan and Thailand.

3   AidPod, photo ____.

When Simon Berry was travelling in Zambia, he noticed that he could buy Coca-Cola in the remotest villages. But in these same villages the people had no medicines and, because of that, one in five children were dying before their fifth birthday. He had an idea. ‘Why don’t they bring medicines when they deliver the Coca-Cola?’ So he invented the AidPod, a triangular packet of medicines that fits between the bottles in a crate of Coca-Cola. Berry has experimented with a number of designs for his AidPod and is testing his ideas in Zambia. If his plan works, he hopes to do the same thing in other African countries.

3. Read the Reading Strategy. Then decide if the sentences below are true (T), false (F) or ‘does not say’ (DNS).

(Đọc Chiến lược Đọc. Sau đó, quyết định xem các câu dưới đây là đúng (T), sai (F) hay ‘không nói đến’ (DNS).)

1   Carrying water on your head can cause neck injuries. 

2   With the Hippo-Roller people can carry more water than with a normal bucket.

3   The LifeStraw is made from natural materials.

4   The LifeStraw never stops working. 

5   The fizzy drinks company worked with Simon Berry to design the AidPod.

6   The AidPod is used successfully in many different countries.

Reading 
3. Match texts A-D with questions 1-6 below. Some questions match with more than one text.
(Nối văn bản A-D với các câu hỏi 1-6 bên dưới. Một số câu hỏi phù hợp với nhiều hơn một văn bản.)
Which invention(s)...
1 was / were discovered during the scientist's free time? __________________________
2 was / were made when scientists were working on something else? ________________
3 was / were previously used for something different? ____________________________
4 resulted from something getting too hot? _____________________________________
5 is/are used for joining two things together? ___________________________________
6 took the longest to be developed? ___________________________________________

Invented by accident

A. MICROWAVE OVEN

This useful kitchen device was invented by an electronics genius called Percy Spencer. Spencer had been in the Navy, where he had taught himself how to be an engineer. When he left, he got a job at Raytheon, an important company in the arms industry. In 1945, Spencer was experimenting with radar when something strange happened. He noticed that a bar of chocolate in his pocket had melted. Spencer worked out that it was the microwaves from the radar that had heated the chocolate. Spencer continued investigating the effects of microwaves on food and developed the microwave oven. The first machine was sold just a year after Spencer had made his discovery. 

B. VELCRO

Velcro was invented by a Swiss engineer called George de Mestral. In 1948, Mestral was out walking with his dog when he noticed that the dog was covered in small green balls. The balls were the seeds of a plant which was common in the area. Mestral wanted to know what made these balls stick to his dog's fur, so he looked at one of them under his microscope. He saw that it had a lot of tiny hooks. Mestral realised that this technique could be used to make two strips of material stick together. He experimented with a variety of materials for years until the invention of nylon, which was perfect for his idea. The first Velcro was finally produced in 1955. 

C. PLAY-DOH 

The children's toy Play-Doh actually started life as a cleaning product. It was made by an American company called Kutol Products and it was used to clean wallpaper. Sadly, the wallpaper cleaner did not sell very well, so Kutol Products began losing money. That is, until the company realised that its product was being used for a different purpose. Children tad started using it to make Christmas ornaments in the shape of people and animals. Kutol Products adapted their product almost overnight by taking out the cleaning ingredient and adding colours and a nice smell. They also gave it a new name. Play-Doh went on to become one of the best-selling children's toys ever. 

D. SUPERGLUE

In 1942, Dr Harry Coover of Eastman-Kodak Laboratories was trying to find a new material to use for making part of a gun. He was disappointed to see that his latest effort, a substance called cyanoacrylate, was a complete failure because it stuck to everything it touched. Coover threw it away and forgot about it. Six years later, he came across cyanoacrylate once more when his company was developing a new design for part of a plane. Again, the substance stuck to everything in sight. But this time, Coover realised that the substance might be useful, because it didn't need heat to make it stick. Coover carried on experimenting with cyanoacrylate in his lab, and it appeared in DIY stores as superglue sixteen years after he had first used it.

Grammar and vocabulary
4. Choose the best options to fill in the blanks.
(Chọn các phương án tốt nhất để điền vào chỗ trống.)

Reach for the sky!

It is incredible what inventors can come up with these days. In the past, people said that it (1) _____ impossible to make a flying motorbike, but a California-based company called Aerofex (2) ______ just that. The Aero X hoverbike runs on normal petrol and it (3) ______ two people to ride up to three metres above the ground at a speed of 70 km/h. The first model (4) ______ back in 2012, but experts (5) _____ the company that it looked very ugly.
Since then, the design (6) ______ so that now it looks like something out of the film Star Wars. It has taken so long to produce because this kind of vehicle has always been considered (7) ______ dangerous. You (8) ______ have a pilot's license to use the hoverbike, but all riders will have to do a training course before they buy one. The Aero (9) ____ around $85,000 and can be reserved on the company's website for $5,000. But if you (10) ______ one, you'll have to be quick, because they are sure to be very popular. 
1 a are     b was     c would
2 a was done     b was doing     c has done
3 a allows     b lets     c prevents
4 a is developed     b developed     c was developed
5 a said     b told     c told to
6 a is changed     b was changed     c has been changed
7 a enough     b too     c too much
8 a needn't     b mustn’t     c can’t
9 a costs    b pays     c charge
10 a wanted     b want     c will want